A Sampling of Chess and Chip Games

Todd W. Neller

http://cs.gettysburg.edu/~tneller/games/chessnchips.html

Motivation

• “How could one get the most varied, quality gaming for the least cost?”

• My top 5 game equipment picks for fun and variety at low cost: – Pencil and paper – Playing cards – Dice – Chess set – Poker chips

• Chess set + poker chips = greatly expanded possibilities

A Sampling of Chess and Chip Games

• Amazons – invented in 1988 by Walter Zamkauskas of Argentina – “El Juego de las Amazonas” is a trademark of Ediciones de

Mente. • Ataxx

– Invented by Dave Crummack and Craig Galley in 1988 and was originally called Infection

– First appeared as a Leland arcade game in 1990 – Believed to be in the public domain

• Lines of Action – Invented by Claude Soucie – First publicized in Sid Sackson's book A Gamut of Games (1969) – A focus of AI competition in the annual Computer Olympiads

Amazons

• Object: To be the last player with a legal move.

• Board: square grid (10x10 standard, but smaller works)

• Pieces: – 4 Amazons each in light/dark

colors (e.g. Chess pawns) – Markers to mark “arrows” on

grid (e.g. Poker chips) • Initial setup: (see figure) • The light color plays first.

Source: Wikipedia

On a chess board, pieces can be placed at a3, c1, f1, h3 and a6, c8, f8, h6.

Amazons: Move • A move consists of two parts:

– An Amazon of one’s color makes a non-capturing queen move.

– The moved Amazon then shoots an arrow a non-capturing queen move away from the Amazon’s new space.

• Amazons and arrows block spaces. Amazons do not capture. Pieces may not move on or beyond blocked spaces. Source: Wikipedia

Amazons: Game End

• Play sometimes ends by mutual consent when all Amazons are separated and the number of remaining legal moves is easily counted.

Source: Wikipedia

Ataxx • Object: to have the most

squares with your color at game end.

• Board: 7x7 square grid – Variations: some squares may

be blocked, hex grid, grid size • Pieces: 2 contrasting color

poker chips per grid square, stacked as in Reversi/Othello.

• Initial setup: Usually two light-color-on-top stacks in two corners, and two dark-color-on-top stacks in the other two corners.

• Light goes first.

Ataxx: Move

• Two types of actions: – Move a piece to an empty

square 2 away. (by single orthogonal/diagonal steps)

– Grow a new piece into a square 1 away.

• All opponent pieces adjacent to the destination square are flipped and become your pieces.

Ataxx: Game End

• The game ends when neither player can move (two consecutive passes). – Alternatives: “…when the

board is full”, “… when a player has no more pieces”.

• Then, the player with the most pieces wins.

• Draws may occur on boards with an even number of squares.

Lines of Action

• Object: To be the first player to connect all of their pieces.

• Board: 8 x 8 square grid • Pieces: 12 chips in each

of two contrasting colors • Initial setup: (see figure) • The dark color plays first.

Lines of Action: Move

• Chips move orthogonally/diagonally • A chip moves exactly as many spaces

as there are chips of either color along the line of movement. This includes the chip itself.

• A player’s chip may not jump over opponent’s chip(s), but may capture one by landing on it.

• A player’s chip may jump over that player’s chip(s), but may not self-capture.

Lines of Action: Game End • The game ends when a there is a single,

completely connected group of one player’s pieces. – Connections are made by orthogonal/diagonal adjacency.

• Special case: simultaneous connection – a capture move both completely connects the player’s group and removes the only disconnected piece of the opponent.

• Is this a draw? – NO. According to the game inventor Claude Soucie and Sid

Sackson in his 2nd ed. of A Gamut of Games, the player making the simultaneous connection wins.

– YES. According to Sid Sackson’s 1st ed. of A Gamut of Games and most present-day tournament rules, this is a draw.

Conclusion

• These are but a few game possibilities when one combines a Chess set with Poker chips.

• What interesting Chess and Chip games might you invent?

• More Chess and Chip games at http://cs.gettysburg.edu/~tneller/games/chessnchips.html

• Enjoy! • Sources: A Gamut of Games by Sid Sackson,

Wikipedia, Google images